Apparatus fob blowing- qbe



F. W. MILLER.

APPARATUS FOR BLOWING OFF, WASHING, AND REFILLING LOCOMOTIVE BOILERS--APPLIQATION FILED MAY I8| I9I8,

Patented Oct. 14, 1919.

:. Ill-I V UNITED STATES JPATENT OFFICE,

FRANK w. MILLER, OF CHICAGO, 'I InoIs,

APPARATUS FOR BLOWING OFF, WASHING, Ann REFILLING- LOCOMOTIVE-BOILERS.

ToaZZ whom it may concern:

Be it: known that I, FRANK NV. .MILLER, a citizen of the United .States,residing at Chicago, in'the county oiiQook-and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain: new and useful Improvements inApparatus for Blowv ingOfi, Washing, and Refilling Locomotive-Boilers, of which the followingis a specification. 7

' This invention relates to the general art of blow-oil, washout andrefilling systems'for locomotives, and more particularly to such Systemsin which the heat of the discharged steam is'utilized to heat thewashout and refilling'water.

The primaryto provide a system object of the invention is and economyand adapted for use by rail roads having a comparatively limitedlocomotive equipment. Another object is to provide a system in whichthe'loconiotive Water and fuel tankor tender may be utilized, in lieu'bfthe usual separatetank or. hot-well, forthe heating of the washout andrefilling water. Another object is to'provide an apparatus which mayconveniently be mounted between two adjacent tracks of a round houseor'other locomotive shed and may with-equal facility serve alocomotiveon either'track; *A further object is to provide a system in which theblowing ,ofi of the steam is facilitated through" the employment of anauxiliary steam condenser interposed in the'p'ath of the steam from theboiler to the waterftank and supplied, through a closed circulationsystem, with waterfrom the water" tankitself. v Otherobjects andattendantadvantages of'the invention willbe apparent to those skilled inthe art froni the following description,--taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing forming a part' of this specification, and whereinIhave illustrated one"prarcti-cal and operative form of app'aratus inwhich'the invention may be embodiedand by whichit may be carried-out.,In thedrawing Y 'Fig'ure'lis vertical longitudinal section through astall ofa'roilndhouse, showing a locomotive insideeelev-ation" thereinand also showing an" apparatus embo'dying my iinprov e chblow off,washout and refilling system mounted'upon a post or-stanchion betweentwo adjacent tracks.

ofthe character specified' characterized by extreme simplicity 1 p i c iten Patented'0ct.v14,'1919. Application filed May 18,1918.seriai-nazaaess. I

Fig. 2 is atransverse section, on the line Referring to the drawing, 5and- 5 designate a pair of railway tracks located side by slde inadjacent stalls of a locomotive roundhouse or shed, one of saidstallsbeing indicated generally at 6. Between the rails-of each track isthe usual pit 7 connecting with the sewer, and through which thefoul'water from the locomotive boiler, is discharged. Between the tracksis an upright post or' stanchion 8 that may. conveniently form one ofthesupports of the roof, and on this post is mounted a bracket 9 on whichis supported a c'ondenser cylinderor tank 10, this condenser havingtherelation of an auxiliary to the main condenser which, in the presentsystem, consists of the water tank of the locomotive 'tenderindicated at11 in Fig.1. From the top ofthe condenser extends a steam pipe 12consisting of a plurality of fiexiblyjointed sections whereby said pipeat its outer end is adapted to be connected into thesteam dome '13 of alocomotive boiler ltlocated on either of the tracks and 5/. From thelower enduof the condenser there extends another steam pipe 15, alsoconsisting of a plurality "of flexibly jointed'sections by meansof whichthe. outer endsection 15 may be introduced into the water-tank of thelocomotive tender 11 on either of the tracks 5 and 5. The pipe 15 may belowered intoand withdrawn from the water tank of the tender by :a simplemanually operated device for this purpose, which, as herein shown,consists of a rope orchain'lficoimected to said pipe, passing over apulley 17 suspended from the'roof fiand anchored at 18 to a suitablecatch block or'hook'. p I

' 19- des'ignates a bracket'mounted on the post 8jbelo'w the bracket 9and supporting a pump 20 and an electric motor 21 for driving the pump.-A hose 22 .connected to the intake side of the pump is adapted at itsouter end to be coupled to the discharge 7 nozzle 23 of the water tankof the tender. A

pipe 24: connected to the discharge side of the filling hose 27 ofsuflicientlength to serve a locomotiveon either of the adjacent tracks 5and 5. "Manually operable-valves or cocks 28 and 29 are interposed inthe branch pipes 25 and 26, respectively, by which the discharge fromthe pump can be directed through either of the said pipes at will.

In the operation of the present system, a locomotive having been runinto one of the stalls to approximately the position shown in thedrawing, the upper steam pipe 12 is connected into the steam dome l3 andthe lower steam pipe 15 is lowered into the water tank of the tender 11,as shown. The hose 22 is also connected. to the discharge nozzle 23 ofthe tender, the valve 29 is closed and the valve 28 is opened, and thepump 20 is started in operation. The steam in the boiler blows offthrough the pipe 12, condenser 10, and pipe 15 into the water containedin the water tank of the tender 11, thereby imparting its heat to thelatter. At the same time the water in the water tank is circulated bythe pump 20 through the condenser 10, by which the steam is partiallycondensed on its way to the water tank, and its heat more effectivelyand thoroughly transferred to the water, it being noted that there is acontinuous closed circulation of the water in'the water tank while thesteam isblowing off.

As soon as the blowing off of the steam is substantially completed, theusual drain cock on the under side of the boiler is opened above the pit7, and the dirty water and accumulations of scale and sludge aredischarged into the trough and thence to the sewer. As soon as theboiler is emptied, the valve 28 is closed, the valve 29 is opened, andthereupon the pump 20 operated to force the heated water from the tankof the tender through the hose 27 the nozzle of which is inserted intothe various hand holes of the boiler to thoroughly wash out the boiler.This operation is continued until the boiler is thoroughly washed out,after which the boiler drain cocks and hand holes are closed, and thehose is inserted into or connected with the boiler above the Water lineso that the boiler is refilled by the heated clean water from the tendertank.

It will be observed that both the apparatus for and method or operationof blowing 0H, washing and refilling the locomotive herein shown anddescribed are extremely simple and easy of manipulation, and involvecomparatively slight expense of construction and installation. Byutilizing the water tank of the locomotive tender as the means forconserving the heat of the blow off steam and also as the source ofsupply of the washout and refilling water, considerable economy iseffected over more elaborate systemswhere a special tank for thispurpose is provided. The use of the condenser 10 is not essential, butthe same is preferably employed as constituting a helpful auxiliary tothe water tank itself which, of course, performs the. function of themain condenser. It will also be manifest that by making the steam andwater conductors flexible as shown, a single installation is equallywell adapted to serve 10- comotives on either of the two tracks be tweenwhich the apparatus is installed.

It is believed that the foregoing and other advantages of the inventionwill be readily understood and appreciated by those familiar withsystems of this character from the foregoing, without furtherdescription. The details of construction and arrangement illustrated anddescribed are, of course, capable of considerable modification andvariation without departing from the substance and scope of theinvention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a locomotive blow-off, washing and refilling system, thecombination of a steam condenser located adjacent a track, a flexiblyjointed steam pipe leading from said condenser and adapted to beconnected into a boiler of a locomotive on said track, another flexiblyjointed pipe leading from said condenser and adapted to be entered intothe water tank of a'locomotive tender on said track, a pump, an intakepipe for said pump adapted to be connected to said water tank, and aconnection from the discharge side of said pump to said condenser.

2. In a locomotive blow-off, washing and refilling system, thecombination of a'steam condenser located between adjacent tracks, a pipeadapted to conduct blow-off steam from a locomotive on either of saidtracks to said condenser, a pipe adapted to deliver steam and water fromsaid condenser below,

the water level in the tank of a tender on either of said tracks, apump, an intake pipe for said pump adapted to draw water from the tankof a tender on either of said tracks, and a connection between said pumpand. said condenser for delivering water from the pump to saidcondenser. V

3. In a locomotive blow-ofi', washing and refilling system, thecombination of a condenser located adjacent a locomotive pit, a pipeadapted to deliver blow-off steam from a locomotive to said condenser, apipe connected with said condenser and adapted. to be introduced intothe water tank of a locomotive tender through which steam and water aredelivered from said condenser to said tank, a pump, an intake pipe forsaid pump adapted to be connected to said tender tank, a brancheddelivery pipe from said pump, a connection between one of said branchesand said condenser, and a washout hose connected to the other branch.

45. In a locomotive blow-off, washing and refilling system, thecombination with asuitable support located between adjacent tracks of aroundhouse, of a steam condenser mounted on said support, a flexiblyjointed steam pipe leading from said condenser and adapted to beconnected into the boiler of a locomotive on either of said tracks,another flexibly jointed steam pipe leading from said condenser andadapted to be entered into the water tank of a locomotive tender oneither of said tracks, a pump mounted on said support, a hose connectedto the intake side of said pump and adapted for connection to said watertank, and a pipe connection from the discharge side of said pump to saidcondenser.

5. -In a locomotive blow-off, washin refilling system, the combinationwith a suitable support located between adjacent tracks of a roundhouse,of a steam condenser mounted on said support, a flexibly Copies of thispatent maybe obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Washington,D. G. I

and

jointed steam pipe leading from said condenser and adapted to beconnected into the boiler of a locomotive on either of said tracks,another flexibly jointed steam pipe leading from said condenser andadapted to be entered into the water tank of a locomotive tender oneither of said tracks, a pump mounted on said support, a hose connectedto the intake side of said pump and adapted for connection to said watertank, a pipe connection from the discharge side of said pump to saidcondenser, a washout and refilling hose also connected to the dischargeside of said pump, and valves in said last-named hose and said pipeconnection whereby the discharge from the pump may be directed througheither.

FRANK W. MILLER.

Commissioner of Patents,

